Articles by: James Swackhammer
The latest feature to be added to the SOLIDWORKS Structure System is Angle Direction and Rotation. It can be quite handy to know what the mitre angle is and if it’s the same on both sides. Angle Direction and Rotation is displayed in the Cut-List…
The SOLIDWORKS Structure System is fairly new and while in its infancy “new” basic improvements are being made with every SOLIDWORKS release. Looking at efficiency best practices, using a pattern comes to mind. The basic answer to why we pattern brings me back to the…
SOLIDWORKS 2020 has many big enhancements that improve performance, stability and usability. Sometimes it’s the small things that matter most. The littlest things that improve our CAD life. As an instructor who teaches SOLIDWORKS I really try to promote a two hand design theory. What…
SOLIDWORKS MBD (model-based design/definition) has some new Annotation organizational features for the 2020 release. When viewing annotations, they can now be displayed per the annotation view. This will help you to identify PMI (Product & Manufacturing Data) for a specific view. SOLIDWORKS strives best with…
A long awaited feature we desperately needed was a fix on the hole callouts in SOLIDWORKS MBD (model based definition). New for SOLIDWORKS MBD 2020 are hole callouts and not only that but compound hole callouts. I have tested this on many types of holes…
SOLIDWORKS eDrawings has been used for many years as a part, assembly and drawing viewer. This can be used on computers without SOLIDWORKS installed. Maybe not as well-known but still hitting the cool factor, in my opinion, is eDrawings can be purchased and installed on…
Have you ever had an old fan with the metal cage still run like a champ but found that a newer plastic fan seems to die within a year or two of usage? Ever been on the freeway and saw someone’s hub cap wobbling and…
In my opinion, the SOLIDWORKS Center of Mass is an underrated reference dimension. Many designers use it to see where the bulk of the weight is. This can determine if weight needs to be added, subtract weight or reorganize items to get the desired balance….
We’re going to start making lumber profiles to be used as weldments and smart blocks (in later articles). With a regular SOLIDWORKS part template open we’re going to modify this heavily. I’ll start with adding in a material of Spruce. If you don’t know how…